Today's Reading

Proper 13

Psalm 93

Psalm 93

1 The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.2 Your throne was established long ago;you are from all eternity.

3 The seas have lifted up, Lord,the seas have lifted up their voice;the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.4 Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,mightier than the breakers of the sea—the Lord on high is mighty.

Psalm 96

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the Lord a new song;sing to the Lord, all the earth.2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;proclaim his salvation day after day.3 Declare his glory among the nations,his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

4 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;he is to be feared above all gods.5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,but the Lord made the heavens.6 Splendor and majesty are before him;strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;bring an offering and come into his courts.9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;tremble before him, all the earth.10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;he will judge the peoples with equity.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;let the sea resound, and all that is in it.12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,he comes to judge the earth.He will judge the world in righteousnessand the peoples in his faithfulness.

Psalm 34

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;his praise will always be on my lips.2 I will glory in the Lord;let the afflicted hear and rejoice.3 Glorify the Lord with me;let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;he delivered me from all my fears.5 Those who look to him are radiant;their faces are never covered with shame.6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;he saved him out of all his troubles.7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,and he delivers them.

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,for those who fear him lack nothing.10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.11 Come, my children, listen to me;I will teach you the fear of the Lord.12 Whoever of you loves lifeand desires to see many good days,13 keep your tongue from eviland your lips from telling lies.14 Turn from evil and do good;seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,and his ears are attentive to their cry;16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;he delivers them from all their troubles.18 The Lord is close to the brokenheartedand saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,but the Lord delivers him from them all;20 he protects all his bones,not one of them will be broken.

21 Evil will slay the wicked;the foes of the righteous will be condemned.22 The Lord will rescue his servants;no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Footnotes:

Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

2 Samuel 6:12-23

12 Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

Romans 14:7-12

7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister[a]? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.11 It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘every knee will bow before me;every tongue will acknowledge God.’”[b]

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Footnotes:

Romans 14:10 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verses 13, 15 and 21.

John 1:43-51

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.”51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[b] you[c] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[d] the Son of Man.”